Review of Sword Art Online
When I first read the synopsis for Sword Art Online I was enthralled to see that there was going to be a show that featured video games as a major theme and actually looked promising. Once I began watching this, my excitement quickly turned to disappointment. The general premise of this series was great but as that being its only strength it would not standout among the more matured anime viewers. I believe the targeted audience for this anime was teenage gamers, boys to be more specific. The male protagonist is someone that all teenage boys yearn to be; invincible, charismatic, the center of allattention and the prowess to get the girl. I'd say that the writer used this to his advantage to attract a large audience, who doesn't love a hero with the ability to stop anything in his path, right?
The general story-line of Sword Art Online isn't bad, it's just how it was delivered. Locked in a prison of virtual reality where as the only escape is to beat the game without dying or pay the cost of losing your actual life in the process. After the first story arc ended the series took a major turn for the worse. Plot holes became more severe than the regular. A good example of one would be that on several occasions characters would die without actually dying in person. Just the point being of how events would happen without getting an explanation when they were needed was a general theme to SAO.
My favorite part of the series by far was the art and the animation. In the world of Sword Art Online every level of a dungeon had a different theme, ranging from endless fields to frozen waste lands. Just the detail that would be put into these locations would leave you struck in awe. The animation has been some of the best I have seen as well, with fluent motions from the characters I would enjoy the fight scenes with great attention. As for the sound and ambiance of it, I thought that it was well done. Monsters would make sounds that you'd think they'd make and the sound of clashing swords was as realistic as it could be.
As for the character development in this show there was evidently none if barely some at all. The male protagonist stays the same throughout. As for the female protagonist she makes one major change then stays sticks with it for the rest of the series. The villains never seemed to really pose a serious threat to the main character and in that being so I couldn't develop a hate for them, no matter how dastardly they may have been. I noticed on several occasions during the show that there were some really heart wrenching moments but I just couldn't get into them because of the fact that I had no emotional attachment to any of the characters in the scene. I believe if they would have took the time and had an episode or two dedicated to letting the viewer get to know the main characters a little more then perhaps I would have shed a tear or two.
My enjoyment for the series came to its peak during the fight scenes, just that feeling of excitement during a fast paced battle really kept me at the edge of my toes during the whole show. My least favorite part would had to have been when there was an emotional scene solely because I could get into it. I was thrown for a loop on some of the twists and that made me happy but that only happened a few times, besides that, the show was quite predictable and would make an episode boring to watch if I already anticipated what the coming events were to be.
Overall Sword Art Online is not necessarily a bad show, the reason being that this is such a controversial issue is that the series was over hyped leaving incorrigible fans pitted against people that had their hearts set on letting the world know that it isn't as great as people think it is. With that in mind, remember that we watch anime to be entertained, not to fight about which is better or worse. In conclusion I would like to state what I believe to be the worst and best points of the SAO in my opinion; I would consider the story arcs and ending to be one of the more cliche alternatives I have seen in a while but the atmosphere during the scenes made up for it a bit. The main character was too well liked. Plain and simple. If he were to have had a rival or someone to push him around some then he probably would have developed more as a good character. The best part by far was the art, looking at the landscapes really made this show more enjoyable for me and hopefully for others as well. Lastly I would recommend this to those that have just started watching anime, after watching so much people start to get picky and notice little things more and more so you should enjoy this while you still can.